Rep. West vows to keep fighting for partial recount after judge denies request

Republican Rep. Allen West vowed Friday to keep fighting for a partial recount in his re-election race, after a Florida judge denied his request to revisit the count that showed Democrat Patrick Murphy winning.

Attorneys for the Tea Party-backed Florida congressman, who was elected in the 2010 Republican wave, argued that all 37,000 ballots cast during early voting in St. Lucie County should be recounted.

But after a judge turned him down, West blasted Murphy's "army of lawyers" and made clear he was not conceding the race.

"While we respect the court's decision, we remain concerned the voters in St. Lucie County will not be able to have confidence in the integrity of the electoral process and their right to a fair election, and will continue to pursue all legal options to ensure they do," West said, citing the "many discrepancies" with the votes.

St. Lucie County officials originally recounted just three days of early voting -- from Nov. 1 to Nov. 3 -- following the discovery that machines doubled counted some ballots.

West reportedly gained 132 votes and Murphy lost 667 in the recount Sunday of 16,275 votes. But unofficial returns still showed Murphy ahead of West by just over 1,900 votes in the 18th District.

West's attorneys claim problems with counting of early votes in St. Lucie County are enough to warrant a full recount in that county. The partial recount Sunday showed 800 votes disappearing from the total.

But Murphy's attorneys told the judge that there's not enough evidence to support West's motion -- the judge sided with Murphy.

West's suit sought a temporary injunction to get a full recount of all early voting in St. Lucie and asked the state to postpone certifying the district-wide tally until the process in complete.

Without court intervention, counties are supposed to file certified election results with the state by noon Sunday.

Murphy was already on Capitol Hill this week, taking part in the freshman class photo and declaring that West had lost.

Other South Florida Democrats put out a statement Friday slamming West for "his continued political games" and urged him to "admit defeat and move on."

Fox News' Phil Keating and The Associated Press contributed to this report.